Usher has proved a chart hit on both sides of the Atlantic

The 24-year-old held onto pole position with his song Yeah, while new album Confessions toppled George Michael's latest collection from the top spot.

The Tennessee-born star is also holding the current number one slot in the US singles chart with Yeah.

Other high new entries in the UK Top 10 came from Anastacia, boy band Blue and Brit winners The Darkness, who have yet to capture a chart-topping single.

Anastacia's new entry at number three, Left Outside Of Love, marks the singer's comeback after surgery for breast cancer earlier this year.

The new song is her biggest UK singles chart success to date.

UK TOP 10 1 Usher - Yeah 2 DJ Casper - Cha Cha Slide 3 Anastacia - Left Outside Alone 4 Blue - Breathe Easy 5 The Darkness - Love Is Only A Feeling 6 Britney Spears - Toxic 7 OutKast - The Way You Move 8 Sugababes - In The Middle 9 Kanye West - Through The Wire 10 N*E*R*D - She Wants To Move Source: Official UK Chart Company

Male quartet Blue secured their eighth top ten single with Breathe Easy by making their debut in fourth place.

Urban singer Kanye West scored his first chart placing at nine, while female trio the Sugababes and Grammy winners OutKast also landed high new entries.

In the album charts, George Michael's short-lived reign at number one is unlikely to concern him, after recently announcing he is turning his back on making mainstream commercial music.

The 40-year-old singer-songwriter is planning to circulate future new music via the internet.

N*E*R*D were the other significant new entry at four with their album Fly Or Die.

Veteran

The band consists of renowned producers The Neptunes, who have creatively assisted Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake and other popular artists.

Albums from Katie Melua, Norah Jones and Englebert Humperdinck all held sway in the top ten, proving that a trend for easy listening remains very much in vogue.

Despite being only in his early 20s, Usher is a relative veteran of the UK charts, topping the charts with his first release - You Make Me Wanna - in January 1998.

He recorded his debut album in the US with the assistance of P Diddy at the age of just 14.